The present invention relates to a seat lifting apparatus, and, more specifically, the present invention relates to a mobile seat lifting apparatus that is able to lower and raise a toilet seat over a conventional toilet and thereafter easily be moved to various other toilets as desired, and that is further able to be converted to be used with a chair member when not positioned proximately to a toilet.
Powered lift toilet seats have been disclosed in a number of varying designs for lowering and raising a user with respect to a conventional toilet. Such designs are particularly useful for persons whose movements are hampered or made difficult as a result of age, illness, incapacitation, injury, or handicap. These afflicted persons find it arduous to sit down onto a seat and thereafter ascend to a standing position from that seat without assistance from another person. In attempting to solve these problems, several designs have been provided to pivotally move the toilet seat to aid a user in utilizing a toilet. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,174 to Cool describes a power tilted seat construction that is attached to a toilet bowl and the surrounding flooring to lower the user into a sitting position with respect to the toilet bowl and raise the user from that sitting position on the toilet bowl. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,736 to Sadler et al. describes a seating assist apparatus that is mounted to a conventional toilet bowl, and this seating assist apparatus is used to assist a person in sitting on a toilet. In both of these designs, the seating apparatus is either mounted or necessarily supported by the toilet for use by the individual.
As a result of the fixed position, the persons using either assembly would not be able to move the seating apparatus from one toilet to another without excessive difficulty. Moreover, the seating apparatus would not be able to be used without the aid provided by the toilet as a means of support or foundation. Such designs raise problems of stability with the seating apparatus itself and they are not easily adaptable to be used with various independently shaped toilets that have varying aesthetic and functional designs.
What is needed, then, and not found in the prior art, is a mobile seat lifting apparatus that is able to be easily moved to various locations to aid the user in sitting and standing, and that is further useful with the varying designs of conventional toilets.
An object of the present invention is to provide a freestanding mobile seat lifting apparatus that is able to pivot a seat member attached to a frame assembly between a standing position and a sitting position to aid a user to move between said positions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a mobile seat lifting apparatus that can be easily moved to operate with multiple toilet bowls having varying designs.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a mobile seat lifting apparatus that may interchangeably operate with a toilet seat member or a chair member.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a mobile seat lifting apparatus having an attachable receptacle for the collection and disposal of waste.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished through the present mobile seat lifting apparatus. The mobile seat lifting apparatus includes a frame assembly and a seat assembly pivotally connected thereto, and a driving means used to pivot the seat assembly from a standing position to a sitting position. The frame assembly includes a floor brace that is able to securely support the remainder of the frame assembly and the attached seat assembly with a user sitting thereon. The frame assembly further includes a seat brace and a support arm, wherein the support arm is connected between the seat brace and the floor brace. Moreover, the driving means is preferably connected between the floor brace and the seat brace such that the driving means additionally supports the seat brace in either the standing position or the sitting position.
The seat assembly is thereby designed to engage a conventional toilet seat member such that the mobile seat lifting apparatus can substantially enclose the space proximately around a conventional toilet bowl such that the user may be lowered and raised with respect to the toilet bowl. Additionally, the frame assembly of the mobile seat lifting apparatus is able to be freestanding from any additional bracing members (such as the toilet itself), and therefore the mobile seat lifting apparatus is able to be transported to various desired locations around varying toilets.
In addition, the frame assembly is designed to also receive a chair member to be mounted thereon. In such an embodiment, the person using the mobile seat lifting apparatus may facilely replace the toilet seat member with the chair member such that the mobile seat lifting apparatus may be used without reference to the toilet as well.
Moreover, the frame assembly is designed to receive an attachable receptacle for the collection and disposal of waste. Such a receptacle may be affixed onto the support arm below the seat brace to work in much the same way as a conventional toilet, wherein the receptacle may easily be detached from the support arm to dispose of any waste.
Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following description and by reference to the attached drawings.